The national women's football team is a special phenomenon of Vietnamese sports . It was not until 1997 that it was established to participate in the 19th SEA Games in Indonesia, where it won a bronze medal in its first appearance. The next Games did not include women's football, and at the 21st SEA Games held in Malaysia, the Vietnamese women's team won the title for the first time.
Miracle of women
That smooth start has been the premise for generations of Vietnamese women's football to continue to dominate the regional arena. The 2-0 victory over Myanmar in the final match on May 15 brought the Vietnamese team their 8th championship title and the 4th consecutive SEA Games without a worthy opponent. The Thai women's team, once a force in Southeast Asian football, has been caught up and left far behind by Vietnam in terms of the number of titles.
Duong Thuy Vi won her 7th gold medal in 5 SEA Games. Photo: NGOC LINH
While women's football has brought home "unprecedented" achievements, athletics has also recognized the important role of women. Of the total 12 gold medals that the "queen" sport has brought to Vietnamese sports, the contribution of women is up to 11 - including 10 individual championships and sharing with male colleagues 1 gold medal in the mixed relay distance. For the 3rd consecutive SEA Games, Nguyen Thi Oanh won a "golden" hat-trick in the 1,500 m, 5,000 m and 3,000 m women's obstacle course and also brought home a gold medal for the first time in the 10,000 m women's distance.
During the 10 days of the 32nd SEA Games, there were touching stories of female athletes, most of whom overcame difficulties to succeed. Mother of one Nguyen Thi Huyen trained far from home, missed her child to the point of tears but still gritted her teeth and endured, waiting to explode in Cambodia with 3 gold medals, winning a total of 13 SEA Games championships in her career. It was the story of Ha Thi Linh, a 30-year-old athlete of the Tay ethnic group - returning to the SEA Games arena exactly 10 years after winning her first gold medal and the mother of two from Lao Cai continued to bring home a gold medal in boxing in Cambodia.
Brave female warriors
There are many touching images and stories about the competition of female athletes - who had the honor of singing the National Anthem 73 times and proudly watching the Vietnamese National Flag flying at the congress. The chess duo Ton Nu Hong An - Pham Thanh Phuong Thao, although winning the first gold medal for the Vietnamese sports delegation, had to wait a whole week to receive their medals. The martial arts trio Nguyen Thi Phuong - Luu Thi Thu Uyen - Nguyen Ngoc Tram, therefore, were honored to receive the first official gold medal of the Vietnamese sports delegation at the congress. This trio of karate athletes was also very successful at the 32nd SEA Games and few people know that they have participated in the SEA Games 9 times together (Phuong 4 times, Uyen 3 times and Tram 2 times) and together won 9 gold medals for karate since 2017.
"Steel warrior" Nguyen Linh Na successfully defended the gold medal in the extremely tough heptathlon; the Vietnamese-American twin sisters Truong Thao My - Truong Thao Vy were an important part of the achievement of Vietnam's 3x3 basketball team. For the first time, Vietnam won the SEA Games gold medal, but the long journey with basketball of the two veteran warriors Tieu Duy and Huynh Thi Ngoan has made everyone remember forever.
It is impossible not to mention the achievements of the excellent female freestyle wrestlers who won 6/10 gold medals; the female Khmer martial artists who brought home 5/7 gold medals; female taekwondo artist Chau Tuyet Van was on the taekwondo team that won gold medals at the 6th consecutive SEA Games.
Not only did they train hard and make constant efforts to overcome all difficulties, but they also shed a lot of sweat and tears because of the physical pain caused by injuries during training and the mental pain of being separated from their loved ones during their training days away from home. Medals can only partially ease that pain, and it can be said that Vietnamese female athletes deserve to be mentioned for their contributions to the country's sports.
(To be continued)
(*) See Lao Dong Newspaper from issue dated May 19
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